Grant hoebbteb



July 8 1924.

G. HOERNER HOLDER FOR PAPER BOUND BOOKS Filed Feb. 23

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Patented `uly 8, 1924.

GRANT HOERNER, or NEW YORK, 1v. Y.

HOLDER, Fon PAPER-BOUND iooxs,Y

Application filed February 23, 1921. Serial No. 447984.

To LZ2 whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, GRANT HOERNER, residing at New York, in the county of New York, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Holders for Paper-Bound Books; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to holders or backs for paper-bound books.`

Paper-bound Abooks, particularly those which are large and bulky and at the same time cheaply made, as,-for example, most telephone directories, do not stand up well under usage. The backs often become broken and the leaves loosened in consequence. More than this it is common practice to hang such books when notiin use by means of a string passing through a hole in the upper left hand corner of the book. This further tends to distort the book and entails the necessity of drilling a hole through the entire book.

Temporary holders for magazines, newspapers, loose leaves, etc., are, of course, old, but none of these is adapted for use in connection with the heavier type ofl paper bound books, such, for example, as telephone directories. A holder for such a book should hold the back and adjacent edges so that twisting will be avoided even when the book is hung; itshould provide a substantial support for the book when hung; and it should provide positive means for securing the book in place in 'the holder free from any possibilityV of working loose. In addition it is desirable that the holder be made adjustable to fit books of different depths of binding and different thicknesses.V It is, therefore, the obj eet of the present invention to design a holder of this nature, particu-k larly adapted for heavy paper bound books. This object has been attained by the pro` vision Yof a shallow-box designed to receive the back of the book Vand prevent its twist ing out of shape and breaking. The width of the box is made approximately the width of the book, although an absolutely tight fit is not essential, and the back of the book is designed yto lie in contact with the bottom of the box. The longitudinal side walls or flanges. of the box are not intended to press upon the book with sufficient force to hold.

the latter in place, but merelyso to conne the book so that in cooperation with' the bottom of the box distortion will be largely prevented. The holding function is performed by a longitudinal` thin strip which is held'by the end walls or flanges of the box and passes between the pages ofthe books. Such a strip is readily placed in operative position and is readily removed. Its use necessitates no permanent alteration whatever in the book itself. In order toprovide for books of dierent thicknesses the box can be made of telescoping parts so that the longitudinal sides or anges can be moved relative to each other, and in order to pro-V vide for books of different vdepths of binding theend walls can be so constructed that the retaining strip may be moved relative to the bottom of the box.

The invention will be more clearly understood after "a study of the'accompanying drawing illustrating a preferred embodimentnof the invention. In this drawing Fig. l is a side elevation of theA holder showing a book held therein; Fig. 2 is a front elevation Vof the holder itself showing the means for securing the telescoping members in adjusted position; Fig. 3 is a detail view of the longitudinal metallic strip which is inserted between the leaves of the book; Fig. 4 is a section on an enlarged scale taken alongline 4-4 of Fig. l; Fig. 5V is a plan view of the holder lookingn downwardly upon it as shown in Fig. 1; and F 6 is a section likewise on an enlarged scale taken 'along line 6-6 of Fig. l and showing the holder Vin extended position but without showing the book. n Y

In this drawing ll represents an adjustable holder. This holder comprises two interitting or telescopingmembers 2 and 3, each provided with upstanding longitudinal flanges 4 and 5 respectively. These flanges bear against the covers of the boo-k adjacent its back and are commonly made about onehalf or iive-eighths of anY inch in height. If Y substantially less than this they are inadequate to hold the back of the book firmly and prevent its twisting and breaking and if much more than this they interfere with the reading of the book, as the printing often extends to within one-half inch of the back. Y

Member 2 is provided at each end with forwardly extending ends walls or plates 6 and 7, `which are substantially greater in elf.'

height than the flanges 4 and 5. Member 3 is provided with end flanges 8 and 9 of substantially the same height as the longitudinal side flanges 2`and 3." y

Member 3' slides over the face of member 2 and between end plates 6 and 7, as is clearly shown in Fig. 2. The distance between flanges 4 and 5, which is adjustable to lit any givenbook, is fixed when the desired adjustment has been attained'by means of twoclamping members 12 and 13, which are'pivoted to member 2 and are bent to pass over and lie upon the face of member 3. Eachof these clamping members is provided with a longitudinal slot 14in each of which headed pins15 riveted to t-he member 3 are designed to move. Each slot 14 is provided with. a series of notches 16 which receive the shank ofpin 15 and hold it firmly. The number'of these notches may be varied so that the degree of adjust-ment may be made as finel as is desired.

Each of the end plates 6 and 7 is provided with a plurality of slots 17 and 18. These slots are designed to hold a longitudinal metallic strip 19,'which is inserted between the pages ofthe book. rlhis strip, as shown most clearly inl Fig. 3, is provided with` notches 2,0 adjacent each end, these notches, enabling it to be held in the slots 17. or y18r .Without ylongitudinal displacementl but without interfering with lateral movement. This strip may be held in either setA ofx slotsl 17v or 18, depending upon the depth of` the binding of the book to be held. The upper end of' the strip is provided with a. ring 21by means of. which both book and holder may be suspended.v

' The above described holder is used as follows :,lVhen it isdesired to secure a large .paper-bound book, such as telephone vdirectory, within the holder, the strip 19 is first removed by twisting it so that it may be pulled throughy the slots which hold it, theA members 2 and.; 3 are then extended a suflicient width so that the flanges 4 and 5 will bear,v `firmly upon thecovers of the book and the'members clamped in this adjusted position by means ofclamping pieces 12 Vand 18. Thebook is then inserted and opened and strip 19 is placed between its central leaves.

Theposition of the retaining strip when in use is normally beyond the outer edges of the side walls of the box. If the box is made deep it will interfere with the use of the book, and if the retaining strip is placed, too close to the binding it may tend to break the back of the book. For these two reasons the end walls or plates are preferably made higher than the side walls.

When the book and holder are hung from Vcated by Fig. 4.

ring'22 the weight of the book is carried directly by the lower end plates 7 and 8. The position of' the parts is clearly indi- By making the members 2 and 3 adjustable relative to each other books of varying thicknesses can be accommodated and by reason of the slots 17 and 18 the metallic strip 19 may always be positioned between the central leaves of the book. Moreover, by employing a plurality of such slots the distance of this strip 19 from the back of the book may be varied so that books of varying depths of binding may be readily held.

The parts of this holder may be readily made from sheet metal and stamped to shape. rlhe result is a cheap and durable, as well as useful, article.

Although one preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described it is to be distinctly understood that the invention in its broadest aspects is not limited to these details of construction. For example, Clamping means of other designs might be employed and other means developed for securing the adjustability of the retaining strip both laterally and forwardly of the back. Such modifications are to be considered as fairly embraced within the spirit of this invention, which is limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: l

1. A holder for paper-bound books comprising a shallow box receiving the back of the book and preventing its twisting, said box having relatively narrow longitudinal side walls or anges and relatively wider end walls, and a longitudinal retaining strip held by the end walls beyond the outer edges of the side walls and passing between the pages of the book to hold itwithin the box.

2. A holder for paper-bound books comprising a pair of telescoping back members, longitudinal flanges on said back members designed to bear against the book, means for holding said back members inr adjusted position to fix the distance between the iianges,'and a longitudinal retaining strip designed to pass between the pages of the book 1and secure it in the holder.

3. A holder for paper-bound books comprising two telescoping back members, a notch-ed andslotted clamping piece on one of said back members, and a pin on the other, the pin slidable in the slot and designed to be held by one ofthe notches to lia: the relative position of the two back mem` bers.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

GRANT HOERNER; 

